r/macro_pads

Hey everyone,

I made a short video to explain a concept we’re exploring: a macro keyboard built on top of our Smart Surface technology.

At èlevit, we work on sensorizing materials. Basically, we turn materials like carbon fiber, decorated glass, ceramics and composites in general into reliable touch surfaces. Most of our work is in automotive, smart home and robotics, where the goal is to take reliable data directly from the surface of a product.

Now we’re trying to understand if this technology could make sense for a consumer product. The concept is a premium control made from real carbon fiber or decorated glass.

What we’re exploring:

• touch buttons with finger guides, so you can distinguish the keys by touch + resting positions for the fingers
• dynamic haptic feedback
• customizable dot-matrix icons under the surface
• modular elements, buttons + slider

For now, we’re mainly focused on the hardware, but we also have software ideas and we’re open to suggestions.

I’d love honest feedback.

What feels strong? What feels wrong? And what should we change to make it truly useful, not just cool-looking?

Recently picked up the Doio KB16 macropad. Having a lot of fun with it and it’s already coming in handy at work.

I’ve started looking into replacement keycaps for it so I can, you know, have some chance at remembering which key I have programmed to do what.

Seeing lots of full keyboard sets of keycaps that I like, but I’m new to some of the terms. Some of them are cherry profile, and it seems the keycap height varies by intended row? I assume if I start randomly swapping those various keycaps onto my macropad, they’re going to all be at different heights based on the row they’re meant for.

So are there specific sets of keycaps that are uniform in height that I should be looking at?

Sometimes I’d change layers and I forget what I have mapped where. So I created a widget that can pop onscreen that shows what I have mapped.

Native to MacOs. QMK still works. When I change a layer, the display changes also. Every key and layer can be aliased

Lemme know what you think and if it’s worth posting to GitHub

Hi everyone,

I own the wired/non-pro version of the MMD KM16 (not the KM16 Pro wireless version).

Around late May, after the recent VIA web tool updates (V0113 protocol), the Macro tab suddenly stopped working and now throws errors. The hardware itself still works flawlessly (keymapping, layers, encoders, and LEDs are all functional), but VIA refuses to recognize or configure the macro page.

When I contacted the manufacturer's official Discord support to request a proper wired V0113 firmware update, the vendor/factory repeatedly engaged in deceptive behavior. They sent me "updated" firmware files three separate times, claiming they were for the Single-Mode (wired) version. However, when I verified the binary files, the MD5/SHA-256 hashes of all three files were 100% identical to their broken Three-Mode (wireless) firmware.

I used QMK Toolbox to flash these files onto my wired board anyway, but as expected, nothing changed: the matrix, layers, and encoders still work, but the internal macro buffer addresses remain completely corrupted/mismatched because it's wireless code running on wired hardware. The factory has now ignored me for over a week and completely abandoned support.

Since the manufacturer is refusing to supply the correct wired firmware branch, I am looking for anyone who may have:

* older working firmware/bin files

* wired/non-pro firmware

* QMK fork or firmware source

* reverse engineering info

* MCU information

* bootloader information

* matrix config

* flashing process details

I also found this older thread mentioning that someone successfully built custom firmware for the wired/non-pro version:

https://www.reddit.com/r/macro_pads/comments/1qw6d9g/is_anything_known_about_the_hardware_in_a_mmd/

If you have any files or technical leads, please let me know. Any help to rescue this hardware from the vendor's terrible firmware deployment would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I’m the founder of a small hardware startup working on sensorized advanced materials, basically turning materials like carbon fiber, decorated glass, ceramics and composites into reliable touch surfaces.

We usually work on Smart Surfaces for automotive and premium hardware products, but we’re now exploring consumer applications on top of our technology.

One idea we’re testing is a macro keyboard made from real carbon fiber or decorated glass, with touch buttons, finger guides, haptic feedback, and dynamic dot-matrix icons.

We’re trying to understand whether this is actually interesting, who it could be useful for, and what would make it valuable rather than just “cool looking.”

Here is a link showing the technology: https://x.com/MicheleAiello12/status/2047405264224088374?s=20

Curious to hear brutally honest feedback.

Hi everyone,

I’m the founder of a small hardware startup working on sensorizing advanced materials, basically turning materials like carbon fiber, glass, ceramics and composites into reliable touch surfaces.

We usually work on Smart Surfaces for automotive and premium hardware products, but we’re exploring consumer applications on top of our technology. One idea we’re testing is a macro keyboard made from carbon fiber or glass.

The concept would be:

• 15 touch keys, around a 3x5 layout
• dynamic LED icons under the surface
• haptic feedback
• touch slider
• USB HID output
• open protocol

We’re trying to understand if this is actually interesting for keyboard/macropad people, and what would make it useful rather than just “cool looking”.

A few questions:

• Would touch keys make sense for a macro keyboard, or do you need physical switches?
• Would haptic feedback help enough?
• Carbon fiber or glass: which would feel more interesting?
• Would an open SDK / QMK-like configurability matter to you?

Here is a link to see the technology: https://x.com/MicheleAiello12/status/2047405264224088374?s=20

Curious to hear brutally honest feedback.

Price: $99 (Free Global Shipping) 🚚 Shipping: Shipped via DHL (7-14 business days) 🎨 Early Bird Perk: Free customization for both the frame and keycaps—design your setup exactly how you want it! 👉 Buy now: https://anco3d.com/product/arc/ Video demo in the comments below.

Hello there, I’ve had this macropad for a while and never ended up using it. Tried to think of what I could use it for but couldn’t think of any (audio I use a focusrite hooked up to studio montiors to control volume and my mic, random apps or quick ingame stuff I use a stream deck).

Kinda wanted to see what creative uses people have for them or even if it’s worth anything to sell.

Hey everyone,

Some of you might remember our earlier WIP posts about our wireless macropad with a screen. After a lot of evenings and more bug‑hunting, our first small batch is finally live.

Specs

• 10 hot-swap keys (Kailh Choc V1 low-profile) + 1 layer key 
• 1 rotary encoder with push button 
• Sharp 400 x 240, 1 bit reflective screen
• CPU: nRF52840, BLE 5 + USB-C connectivity
• Up to 5 wireless profiles/layers 
• 30+ days battery life (980 mAh)
• Automatic per-app layer switching
• Configuration via browser + dedicated app
• OTA firmware updates (BLE)
• ~125 x 93 x 20 mm, matte 3D-printed case

The honest tradeoff

The display is reflective with no backlight. That's not a hidden flaw; it's the deal we made to get weeks of battery instead of hours. Readable in any normal lighting, not great in a dark room.

OS support

Officially Windows and Linux. It may work on macOS/iOS/Android, but we haven't properly tested those yet.

About this batch

We made twenty. We're calling it the “Founders Edition”, and every unit is individually numbered: power it on and the boot screen greets you with its own number.

See all the details on our website: https://creavi.tech/

Buying details

• Naked set: $119 USD
• Full set: $129 USD (fully assembled macropad + white keycaps + Kailh Choc V1 red linear switches)
• Shipped from Hungary: EU/UK: $15 USD, US/Canada: $25 USD
• Tindie page: https://www.tindie.com/products/creavi/creavi-macropad/

Happy to answer anything in the comments: specs, the build, the parts that went wrong, whatever. :)

Cheers,

Andras & Kristof

Where do you guys have your macropad on the desk? I used to have mine a little bit out of the way in the corner of my desk pad, when it wasn’t getting used as often, and was more of a fun toy than anything (position A). Now I am using some more complex macros as part of my work (excel shortcuts mainly) it has just moved to between my keyboard and trackball (position B) (I have also just made a little riser to bring the height up to sensibly use it *almost* as an extra thumb cluster for the trackball). I am wondering whether having it set up to use left handed (position C) would be better, though, as I would keep my hand on the trackball.

I know there are clever "out of the way" positions, mounting under the monitor and under the desk, but those are a bit out of the way for workflow stuff. Is there anything else I am missing? What positions have people experimented with (successfully or otherwise)?

Yes, I do have a lot of macropads.

Edit: okay, you have all convinced me. Evidently C is the only sensible way to go. I have shuffled some cables, re-mapped so that the layers make sense with the other hand, and will aim to refresh my muscle memory!!!